ICAR – ILRI Collaborative project on “Improvement of basal feed resources through multi-dimensional crop improvement and application of spin-off technologies from 2nd gen biofuel”

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About the project:

The project aims at reducing feed costs and increasing livestock productivity without additional demand for arable land and water. This will be achieved by 1) improving the fodder quality of crop residues through multidimensional crop improvement and 2) by application of spin-off technologies from 2nd generation biofuel for making sugars in lignified plant cell walls of crop residues accessible to rumen microbes and host animal.

Objective

  • Disseminated rice cultivars with high grain yield and high straw quality identified in phase 1
  • Explore genomic region that are associated with rice straw fodder quality traits
  • Develop a strategy for targeted further concomitant genetic enhancement of grain and straw traits in rice

Develop scaling plans for spin-off technologies from 2nd gen biofuel identified in phase 1 with supporting business plans

  • Improve the efficiency of application of spin-off technologies to improvement of fodder quality by combining existing technological approaches and by identifying and adding new ones

Methodology

  • Describe demand domains for identified superior dual-purpose rice cultivars, procure their seeds and disseminated them in the demand domains
  • Investigate mapping population of rice for straw quality and associations between them and markers
  • Identify and proof-of-concept breeding strategies that identify suitable parental lines that convey superior straw quality while maintaining superior grain yield
  • Design engineering options and business plans for the identified spin-off technologies (steam explosion and 2CCT) that allows embedding in decentralized private enterprises
  • Further search technological options originally developed for ethanol production from crop residues for use in fodder improvement a sole technologies and as cross combinations

Expected outcome

  • Multidimensional crop improvement
  • New rice cultivars with high grain yield and high straw fodder quality
  • Breeding approaches for concomitant improvement of grain yield and straw fodder quality in rice
  • Spin-off technologies for upgrading fodder quality
  • Economically viable and safe treatment options that can upgrade the fodder quality of cereal crop residues to concentrate level
  • Business models for medium decentralized feed enterprises that upgrade crop residues

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